THE ANCIENT ART OF WAR
List Price: $44.95 from Broderbund Software, Inc.
Requires: Apple Macintosh (not Lisa or Macintosh XL) and mouse
by Jeff Hurlburt
Nearly twenty-four hundred years ago Sun Tzu, an extaordinarily successful general of Wu, committed his ideas on the purposes and methods of armed conflict to writing. A respected Chinese classic, the translated "Art of War" has inspired such disparate practicioners of warfare as military commanders, chess masters, and now computer game designers. Styled "The Ancient Art of War", Broderbund's ambitious simulation seeks to provide wargamers with both strategic and close-up tactical control of their forces.
In each of eleven pre-set scenarios your opponent may be any one of eight famous generals ranging from Athena, Alexander, and Caesar through Napoleon and Geronimo. Each is different; so while Alexander is most dangerous in open terrain, Geronimo is at home in the mountains and forests, etc. Aside from the requisite adjustments in player strategies, this variety ammounts to an effective leveling scheme. Sun Tzu is said to "understand every aspect of war" and will, in fact, demolish all but very skilled players; but Athena is insanely agressive and easily outflanked. Whomever you face, victory is achieved by capturing enemy flags or by eliminating all hostile forces.
Each campaign in "'War" is fought on a two-screen, vertically scrollable map showing terrain along with any bridges, forts, and villages. White and black soldier figures (a little larger than 40-colume-format letters) locate friendly and known enemy "squads". Directing a unit's movement is just a matter of clicking it and tracing a route via mouse. Curiously, with four gamespeed settings, you will find no option for simply stopping action to study the situation. Add the need to click squads individually for size and composition data and the result is something less than easy access to The Big Picture.
"'War" scenarios incorporate a multiplicity of strategic factors. Besides plains and hills, terrain features may include forests, mountains, and bodies of water-- the latter three with player-selectable passability. Food sources, supply lines, scouting enemy positions, and reinforcements are additional considerations. Best of all, an excellent built-in designer package makes it a snap to construct and save entire new scenarios of your own.
Each combat unit is composed of up to three soldier types. A kind of scissors-paper-stone scheme gives agile "barbarians" an edge against archers, archers against the sword weilding "knights", and knights against barbarians. Each squad may have up to fourteen members with the number of units (friendly plus enemy) limited to a total of twenty. Composition, formation, and marching speed are individually set via a "Squad" window which also indicates "condition" and food supply.
Any contact with an enemy squad enables the "zoom" option allowing you to direct your unit's tactics. In superbly illustrated scenes remescent of the famous "Star Wars" animated 'chess game' sequence, archers fire, barbarians pound, knights hack, and troops drop like flies. (Glorious!)
Implementing elements of mobile attack, armor, and distance weaponry, "The Ancient Art of War" establishes an unusually active, high-validity wargaming environment. Explicit menus and first-rate documentation quickly move you into the fray for campaigning which may span minutes, hours, or even days. Complex, yet guarenteed not to become another object of worship gathering dust on your shelves; this one is right on target for wargamers of every stripe.
Broderbund Software, Inc.
17 Paul Drive
San Rafael, CA 94903-2102
(415) 479-1170